Brace and locking means for hinged or swinging parts.



C. E. STURGIS.

BRAC?. AND LOCKING MEANS FOR HINGED 0R SWINGING PARTS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1916.

L21 3,969 Panama AAA. 30, 191?.

Figi@ igo Ilmvmgmrg CHARLES E. STURGIS, OF ROCHESTER. NEW YORK.

BRACE AND LOCKING MEANS FOR HINGED OR SWINGING PARTS.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented l an. 36, 191'?.

Application filed May G, 1916. Serial No. 95,911.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. STURGIs, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Braces and Locking Means for Hinged or Swinging Parts, of'which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to bracing and locking means for hinged or swinging parts, an object of the invention being to provide a brace which has a lost motion connection with the swinging part whereby the length of the brace may be reduced.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for locking the swinging part in opened or closed position through the medium of the brace.

A further objectv of the invention is to employ a single detent which acts directly'on the swinging part and also on the brace for holding the swinging part in locked position.

To these and other ends, the invention consists of certain parts and combinations of parts all of which will be hereinafter described, the novel features being pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a view showing the swinging part in closed position; Fig. 2 is a view showing the swinging part in open position; Fig. 3 is a section on the line o o, Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is avview showing the brace held against movement by friction produced thereon by a detent while the swinging part is moving` relatively to the brace.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, 1 indicates the hinged part, hinged at 2 toanother part 3. In the present instance the part 3 is a camera casing and the hinged part is the lens-board support ofthe camera casing, but it will be understood thaty the brace and the locking meansv may be embodied in any structure where similar conditions exist.

The brace 4 is preferably pivoted at 5 to the part y to one side of the'turning axis of the hinge and is provided with 'a way 6 in the form of a slot with laterally diverging portions 7l and 8 on 'opposite sides of the central portion, the eXtreme ends of the diverging portions 7 being still further deilected atv 9 and 10 respectively, thereby forming a substantially 'Ll-shaped slot.

lVithin this slot a headed stud 11 operates, said stud being carried by an arm 12 which projects laterally from the hinged part and is adapted when the hinged part 1 is in closed position to project within the part 3 beyond the pivot 5. The slot is enlarged at 6a in order that the headed stud 11 may be withdrawn from the slot at this point. The

end 13 of the brace is extended beyond the pintle 11 in order to cooperate with the swinging part 1 beyond said pintle for the purpose of strengthening the supporting action of the brace.

- With the end in view of locking the closure 1 in both closed and open position there may be provided a detent, preferably in the form of a spring plate 14, secured at 15 to the casing member 3 on the inside of the latter, having a bent or' beveled portion 16 adapted to cooperate with an extension 17 on the brace 4, the shoulder 18 on the detent coperating withthe shoulder 19 on the eX- tensio-n to hold the brace in bracing position and the end of the bent portion 16 forming a `shoulder for cooperating withthe shoulder 2O on said brace extension 17. to hold the brace in folded position, as shown in Fig.V 1. Either of the shoulders 19 or 20 may be disengaged from the detent 14 by pressing inwardly upon a finger piece 21, which eX- tends to the outside of the casing 3 and is connected to the detent 'at any desirable point on the'latter. The detent also acts with friction on the extension 17 while the brace is swinging, and this is particularly desirable while'the brace is `inthe position shown in Fig. 4, as it permits theheaded stud or lpintle 11 vto travel inthe portion 7 of the slotwithout any movement ofthe brace, thus making it possible to provide a lost' motion' between the brace and -the hinged member so that a shorterbrace may be employed As an additional 'locking means for the hinged closure, the laterally 'extending'arm 12 is provided with a nose 22 which is adapted to enter an opening in the detent 14 so' that the detent will also serve as a double lock forthe hinged closure.

When the parts are in the position shown in 1, pressure on the finger piece 21 will move the detent out of engagement with the projection 22 and the shoulder 20, thus permitting the swinging part`1 to move.

A'During the first part of the movement, the pintle 11 moves out of the portion 9 of thev way 6 and, shifts thev brace to the position shown in Fig. 4, where the brace is held for a short time by the frictional engagement of the detent 14 with the extension 17 and, while so held, the pintle 11 travels in the portion 7 of the slot until the end of Said portion is reached when the pintle travels in the portion 6 and then to the portion 8,-

which shifts the extension 13 toward the swinging member 1, until, finally, the pintle 11 enters the portion 10 which, together with the detent 14, locks the brace and the cover against movement.

A. brace constructed in accordance with this invention is effective in its action and at the same time has its length reduced to a minimum due to the formation of the slot or way in which the headed stud travels, this slot permitting a lost motion between the headed member and the brace, and the brace being held against movement during such lost motion by a yielding device such as the locking detent. The locking detent coperates with the brace when the hinged member is in closed position and also when said member is in open position to prevent the movement of the hinged member except upon the manipulation of the detent as by a finger piece arranged on the exterior of the easing. This locking detent also engages directly with the lateral arm on the swinging member to still further secure the swinging member in closed position.

The extension 13 engages the hinged or pintle carrying part 1 beyond the pintle and in this way takes all strain from the pintle on pressure to close the hinged part, the brace acting between the end 13 and the locking device 14. The extension 17 may be slotted at 17a so that the metal between the slot and the shoulder 19 may be bent to adjust the shoulder 19 with relation to the brace and in this way the end 13 may be made to engage the hinged part l notwithstanding any inequalities or inaccuracies in assembling the parts.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is z-v 1. In combination with a hinged part and a part to which the first named part is hinged, a brace pivoted to one of said parts at a point removed from the hinge and having a way thereon, and a pintle on the other part operating in said way, the way having a portion in which the pintle may work without any movement of the brace.

2. In combination with a hinged part and a part to which the first named part is hinged, a brace pivoted to one ofsaid parts at a point removed from the hinge, and having a way thereon and a pintle on the other n part operating in said Way, the Way having a portion in which the pintle may work Without any movement of the brace, and a friction producing device acting on said brace to hold the latter against movement while the pintle is moving in said portion of the way.

3. In combination with a hinged part and a part to which the first named part is hinged, a brace pivoted to one of said parts at a point removed from the hinge and having a way thereon with a` laterallyturned portion near the pivot, and a pintle on the other part operating in said way and moving'in the laterally-turned portion without any movement of the brace.

4. In combination with a hinged part and a part to which it is hinged, a brace pivoted to one of said parts at a point removed from` the hinge and having a way thereon, a pintle on the other part operating in said way, and a detent for engaging said brace at its pivoted end when the brace is in bracing position.

5. In combination with a hinged part and a part to which it is hinged, a brace pivoted to one of said parts at a point removed from the hinge and having a way thereon, a pintle on the other part operating in said way. and a detent for engaging said brace at its pivoted end when the brace is in folded po sition, said detent also engaging said brac(` at its pivoted end when the latter is in bracing position.

6. In combination with a hinged part anda part to which it is hinged, a brace pivoted to one of said parts at a point removed from the hinge and having a way thereon, a pintle on theother part operating in said way, and a spring detent mounted on the part to which the brace is pivoted and engaging the brace when the latter is in folded position and. also when said brace is in bracing position.

7. In combination with a hinged part and a part to which it is hinged, a brace pivoted to one of said parts and provided with a way thereon, a pintle carried by the other part and operable in the way, and a detent for holding said brace in folded position, and also engaging with a portion on the pintle carrying part.

8. In combination with a hinged part and a part to which it is hinged, a brace pivoted to one of said parts and provided with a way thereon, an arm on said other part, a pintle carried by said arm and operating in the way. and a detent for holding said brace in folded position and engaging said arm to lock the arm carrying part in closed position.

9. In combination with a hinged part and a part to which it is hinged, a brace pivoted t0 one of said parts and having a slot with a laterally-turned portion near the pivot of said brace, said slot being enlarged at the iuncture of the laterally-turned portion with the main portion, and a headed pintle carried by the other part operating in the slot and adapted to be disconnected from the brace at the enlarged portion of the slot.

10. In combination With a hinged part and a part to which it is hinged, a brace pivoted to one of said parts and having a Way thereon, a pintle on the other part operating in said Way, said brace engaging the pintlecarrying part beyond the pintle to remove the strain from the pintle on pressure of the pintle carrying part to swing to closed position, and a device acting on said brace to hold the hinged part in open position.

1l. In combination With a hinged part and a part to which it is hinged, a brace pivoted to one of said parts at a point removed from the hinge and having a Way thereon with a laterally turned portion near the pivot, a pintle on the other part operating in said Way, and a detent for engaging the brace when the pintle is in the laterally turned portion to prevent the swinging of the brace on its pivot.

l2. In combination with a hinged part and a part to which it is hinged, a brace pivoted to one of said parts at a point removed from the hinge and having a` Way thereon with a laterally turned portion near the pivot, a pintle on the other part operating in said way, the part carrying the pintle being arranged to limit the swinging movement of the brace to prevent the latter swinging in one direction to an inoperative position when the pintle is passing through the latarm at a point between the free end and the secured end of the latter, said linger piece being guided in the part carrying the detent arm and acting to sustain part of the strain on the detent arm when the latter is in locking position.

14. In combination with a hinged part and a part to which it is hinged, a brace pivoted to one of said parts, and having a Way thereon, a pintle mounted on the other part and movable in the way, and a manually operable springdetent mounted on the part to which the brace is pivoted and adapted to lock the brace in one position.

CHARLES E. STURGIS.

vtlmgntea of? this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Millington, D. C. 

